Tools - Cubasis - 3.7

Cubasis Help
Product
Cubasis
Version
3.7
ft:locale
en-US
Document type
Webhelp
ft:openMode
fluidtopics

The Tools panel offers the following options for modifying events and notes:

Select

Use this button and draw out a selection rectangle to select multiple events or notes. Tap this button again to deactivate it and to enable other options.

Split

Splits selected events. The playhead's position sets the split point.

Glue

Merges selected events into one. Glueing only works horizontally, which means that if events on multiple tracks are selected, glueing is processed for each track separately. When glueing audio events that overlap each other, only the topmost event(s) will be audible in the resulting event.

Erase

Deletes selected events.

Draw

Tap and hold to create a new event. Slide to the right to determine its length.

Mute

Toggles whether currently selected events are muted.

Undo

Reverts your last action(s). A small overlay panel briefly shows the action being undone.

Long-tap this button to display a list of the complete undo history. Tapping an item in this list reverts the project back to the selected point in time.

Note

Cubasis saves up to 500 undo steps, which are always available, even after loading another project. Audio editor related undo steps are an exception, the amount of available undo steps depends on the file size. The redo (but not the undo) history is discarded after another project is loaded.

Redo

Redoes your last undone action(s). A small overlay panel briefly shows the action being redone.

Long-tap this button to display a list of the complete redo history. Tapping an item in this list forwards the project back to the selected point in time.

Copy

Copies selected events and notes into clipboard.

Note

Copying or splitting an audio event creates a reference, which means that the events refer to the same audio (wav) file. However, when a referenced event is edited, a copy is created so that the original remains unchanged.

Paste

Pastes events and notes from clipboard into your project, starting at the playhead.

Transpose / Pitch Shift

  • MIDI transposes notes on a semitone and octave scale.

  • Audio pitch shifts audio material by cents, semitones or octaves. You can set the pitch shift quality by selecting either the Mobile, Efficient (2x CPU) or Pro (4x CPU) algorithm, the last of which grants you additional tweaking options:

    • Formant Shift: Formant correction is only available for the Pro algorithm, where Cubasis automatically sets the formant shift to the current transposition pitch factor (for example factor 2.0 if transposition is set to +1 octave). Changing the shift can yield interesting effects, but usually the default shift is the desired one for vocals.

    • Formant Order: The formant order sets the order of the spectral envelope estimation. The default is set to 128 which works fine for most material. For high pitched material the order should be lowered, and vice versa for low pitched material it should be raised.

Note

When time-stretching and pitch shifting an audio event at the same time, both tools must use the same algorithm.

Quantize

Quantizes all selected notes (or notes within selected events). The following options are available:

  • Grid sets the note length according to which the selected notes will be quantized. Values range from 1/1 to 1/64 notes (D = dotted; T = triplet).

  • Auto Quantize: If enabled, Cubasis will automatically quantize recorded MIDI notes according to settings specified in the quantize menu. Aside from immediately tapping Undo after recording, notes cannot be de-quantized later on.

  • Note ends: If enabled, note lengths are also quantized.

  • Swing: The higher the swing value, the more off grid your notes will be quantized, making them sound more human.

Snap

Controls the dimensions of the grid which the playhead, events, event handles, notes and note lengths snap to, ranging from bars to 1/64 notes, including dotted and triplet modifiers. The chosen snap grid applies to the arranger's and the MIDI, audio and automation editor's grids.

Long-tap this button to toggle between OFF and the previously selected grid value.

Note

When snap is disabled, notes and events will snap to a resolution of 960 ppqn (parts per quarter note) which is as precise as a 1/3840th note.

Stretch

The time-stretch tool is available for audio and MIDI events. It affects the duration, but not the pitch. The following options are available:

  • Manual: Select Manual and drag the left or right event handles (triangular shape) for precise timescale adjustments.

  • Auto: Only available for audio events. Auto will read the audio file's embedded tempo information and stretch the event to match your song's tempo. Factory audio loops have the correct tempo embedded and will automatically adjust to the project's tempo when imported.

  • Clear: Reset to the original event length.

  • Algorithm: Only available for audio events. Mobile uses the least amount of CPU power, but the quality is much better with Pro, which requires more processing resources. When time-stretching and pitch shifting an audio event at the same time, both tools need to use the same algorithm.

Custom/imported audio files might not contain the tempo information readable by Cubasis (iXML), in which case auto-stretching leaves the event unchanged. To achieve the desired tempo syncing, follow these steps:

  • Import the audio file. Select the Stretch tool and tap Auto and see whether the audio event has changed in length.

  • If nothing happened, go to the Audio Editor and select the BPM button to the right of the editor.

  • Enter the audio file's original tempo. You can find out the original tempo by doing the following:

    • Look up the audio file in the MediaBay. Tap the Preview button.

    • Tap the Tempo display in the Transport panel. While the file is playing, use the Tap Tempo button to determine the tempo.

    • When you're done, don't forget to set the song back to its previous tempo or simply hit Undo.

  • Enter the tempo in to the dialogue that pops up when tapping the BPM button.

  • Go back to the Stretch tool and try again.

Limitations of time-stretch and pitch shift

Please note that the performance of real-time time-stretch and pitch shift depends on many factors such as the device model you use as well as the sample rate, the latency setting, the number of tracks and instruments and effects used in your project. In addition, using inter-app data streaming technologies such as Audiobus, Audio Unit and Inter-App Audio along with a number of assigned instrument apps has a significant impact on the performance of your device.

Depending on what device model you are using, the number of tracks that contain time-stretch or pitch shift and the complexity of your project, will sooner or later provoke performance limits.

There are several options to improve performance if you encounter performance limits with time-stretch and pitch shift:

  • Select Setup > Audio and increase the Latency, enable multi-core and increase the guard buffer.

  • For best CPU efficiency select Stretch > Auto > Mobile.

  • For best resulting quality select Stretch > Auto > Pro and freeze individual tracks or the entire project.

  • Use the Freeze function to render tracks into audio tracks.